Oil spill detection methods can be broadly classified into global or local. Global detection schemes are typically satellite based (e.g., Landsat program managed by NASA and U.S. Geological Survey). Satellite systems perform large scale surveys; their primary limitations are low spatial resolution, low sampling rate and dependency on cloud cover. Local detection methods comprise of many different schemes including airborne (e.g., Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR)) and shipboard (e.g., microwave radar) monitoring systems. Shipboard and airborne systems are capable of providing higher resolution than satellite based systems, but are not ideal for permanent monitoring applications. Therefore, such systems are designed as mobile units.
The current system for monitoring oil seeps from unmanned offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico includes daytime, fair-weather helicopter sorties. It is desirable to reduce the number of helicopter sorties, providing a fixed monitoring system that transmits the sensor data streams (e.g., image stream, video stream, etc.) via a wireless network to a manned platform where the data is processed. It is further desirable that an automated alert is generated when an oil spill occurs and the operator is notified such that upon further investigation if the alert is deemed to be genuine, a helicopter may be dispatched to the platform for a thorough on-site investigation. It is further desirable for the system to run 24/7 in all weather conditions to improve over current methodology, both in regularity and safety.
Thermal imaging was originally developed for military applications. The first practical barium strontium titanate (BST) ferroelectric infrared detectors (by Raytheon) and vanadium oxide (VOx) microbolometers (by Honeywell) became available for non-military commercial applications only recently in the 1990s. Thermal imaging is utilized in many industrial applications, as well as security, firefighting, and law enforcement. An advantage of thermal imaging is its nighttime capability without artificial illumination.
Previously mentioned mobile units have high power consumption and unreliable network connectivity. This aspect is addressed more fully in a related patent application Ser. No. 11/648,089 filed Dec. 29, 2006, which is hereby incorporated by reference. Related patent application Ser. No. 11/648,089 entitled “Method and Apparatus for Evaluating Data Associated with an Offshore Energy Platform”, in one or more embodiments, describes a system for transmitting data from an unmanned offshore energy platform to a manned offshore energy platform via a wireless network powered by solar panels, wind turbines, and other alternative energy generation schemes.